


Love.exe has Malfunctioned

by DragonHotCoffee



Category: Captive Prince - C. S. Pacat
Genre: Alternate Universe - Robots & Androids, Anal Sex, Angst, Auguste (Captive Prince) Lives, But also, Dismemberment, Dubious Consent, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Hacking, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Brainwashing, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Lots of it, M/M, Oral Sex, Regeneration, Rough Sex, Slow Burn, Torture, also there's going to be, because they're non-sapient robots but can achieve sapience, typical Regent ickiness
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-31
Updated: 2018-07-31
Packaged: 2019-06-19 06:31:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15504384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DragonHotCoffee/pseuds/DragonHotCoffee
Summary: After his brother's death at the hands of a malfunctioning android, Damen receives an odd gift from the android's creator, whose bot model drove Damen's family business out of the android market. Damen is saddled with Laurent, a non-sapient robot intent on 'pleasing' Damen. While he tries to deprogram Laurent in more ways than one, across the city, android techs Auguste and Jord struggle to find a way to save the P.E.T.s from their abusers. There is also the problem of that malfunctioning android with a penchant for murder. Who cannot be found.





	Love.exe has Malfunctioned

**Author's Note:**

> Keep in mind this work is going to feature a lot of trauma and abuse so don't read if you can't handle that.  
> I've been wanting to write something related to androids for a long time, so this is going to be fun.

For nearly two decades, the S.L.A.V.E.s had led the market in android technology. Perfectly behaved and pleasant to all the senses, they never broke down unless mistreated by their owners. Though some people found their docile and simpering natures to be boring, the android model’s success was never overshadowed until the release of the P.E.T.s. 

Customizable from their personalities, physical features, and even age (a manip Damen’s father had publicly disapproved of), the P.E.Ts had been gaining unbelievable velocity on the market for the seven years that they had been out despite many setbacks due to constant reprogramming. Veretian Industries was flourishing while the S.L.A.V.E.s had become almost obsolete though some people still kept them out of habit. Not that Damen cared either way at this point. He was suing the CEO of Veretian Industries for causing the death of a family member. 

He’d ignored Nikandros protesting that Kastor had wanted to take Damen’s place in the company, that he would have done anything to replace him-which was probably why he’d bought Jokaste and customized her in the first place. It was probably his own fault he got himself killed, Nikandros said. Damen refused to hear any of it or mull it over in his head. It didn’t matter. Kastor was family and Damen had promised his father before he died to always look out for family. Now Damen had no family left.

He could feel his throat tightening and cleared it loudly, making Isander turn in the passenger seat of the hovercar and look at him with big brown eyes.

“Is everything alright, Damen?” the android chirped, “would you like a drink?”

“No thank you, Isander,” Damen smiled tiredly, “I’m fine.” Nikandros huffed beside him but made no comment. 

“We’ll be there soon, sir,” Pallas announced from the driver seat as they flew through the diamond district, giant crystals twinkling with rainbow light, “do you want me to wait for-”

“He’s already there,” Damen answered, “and you can come inside and talk to Lazar if you like. See if you can sway him over to us at long last.”

“After today, it should be easy,” Pallas said cheerfully. Nikandros huffed again but when Damen looked over, his friend was looking out the window, body craning as far away from Damen as possible. 

They finally pulled up in front of the Dispute Court Center. Damen had learned to hate the spherical building over the past year and a half. But hopefully, today would be the last time he’d have to come here. 

As they walked down the hallway, Nikandros gripped shoulder and arm tightly, holding him in a hard grip.

“Look, you’ve had a lot of outbursts,” Nikandros spoke lowly, “but if you ingratiate yourself to him and accept whatever settlement he offers today you can-”

“If it’s nothing less than a big portion of the revenue the P.E.T.s make and a promise to fix the adaptability program then I’m refusing,” Damen whispered back. 

“I won’t argue with that but-”

“But what?” Damen stopped in the hallway to look at Nikandros. The man’s eyes were dark and his jaw was tight.

“Just be pleasant if he agrees to terms, Damen,” Nikandros explained, “he’s a dangerous man to anger.” 

“If he was, then I shouldn’t have pursued a lawsuit then, should I?” 

“He agreed to it because it would look good to be actively going against his rogue android instead of ignoring the victims. They need all the help they can get to bring it down.”

“Even if their android has rendered our main source of revenue unfashionable?” Damen asked.

“Let’s just get this over with,” Nikandros muttered.

In the conference room was assembled the CEO of Veretian Industries and his flock of lawyers and employees. On the opposite side of the table were Damen’s team of attorneys, waiting patiently. 

“Now that everyone’s here,” the weary-looking mediator said from the head of the table as Damen and his party sat down, “Mr. DeVere, you said last time you and your advisors would draw up an appropriate compensation for Mr. Akielos?”

Mr. DeVere smiled that slow, pleasant smile that made Damen’s skin crawl. “Yes, we have.” the man made a gesture with his hand and his assistant hurriedly pulled out a piece of paper from a folder which Mr. DeVere idly handed to the attorney next to him who read it extensively.

“Mr. DeVere is willing to offer 30% of the annual revenue that the P.E.T.s make on the market as well as a sum of  300 million dollars and the additional technologies: a one hundred-T hover ship and one hundred and fifty-T water ship with submergence….”

“Holy shit,” Nikandros said under his breath.

“Seventy-two of the latest light emitters with complimentary installations and customizations, unlimited access to the latest technologies and models of P.E.T., and-” the lawyer frowned at the last entry, “I’m sorry, sir. I’m afraid I don’t-”

“I would also like to make a gift of good faith to Mr. Akielos,” Mr. DeVere said smoothly, “One of the first, completely perfect models of P.E.T. that has been installed with the latest programming for Mr. Akielos’ personal use.”

Another gesture of Mr. DeVere, and a door behind the Veretian party opened to admit two individuals, one clearly a tech with a computer and the other -

Nikandros kicked him under the table harshly to force Damen’s attention back on the case, though he couldn’t erase the image of the android out of his head.

He was perfect, skin flawlessly pearly white and frame lithe yet muscular. The hair mimicked the color of pale gold so precisely that Damen wouldn’t have been surprised at running his hands through it to feel metal instead of softness. The android’s eyes were an intense sky blue, piercing even in their blankness. 

He could have been Jokaste’s brother, so closely did he resemble her though Damen immediately dismissed the thought; he was a machine after all.

“This is Laurent,” Mr. DeVere gestured to the blond android, “he is in trance mode at the moment but he is fully functional and customizable without,” he added with a toothy smile, “any adaptabilities so you can rest assured you’ll be perfectly safe with him in your ownership.” The android was prodded by the tech to approach Damen’s party and obediently, the blond walked over to one of Damen’s techs and stood beside him. 

Damen wanted to explain that blond and pretty or not, he had sworn off personal ownership of any androids but he felt Nikandros’ nails digging into his arm; he supposed for once he ought to listen to his best friend’s warnings.

“I happily accept this-” Damen grimaced as Nikandros drew blood, “-gift of goodwill along with the proposed compensations you’ve detailed in your offer. They are more than acceptable,” Damen attempted to smile kindly at the slippery man across the table but it felt like a grimace on his face. 

“Very good,” Mr. DeVere clapped his hands together, looking pleased with himself, “One of my assistants can talk to you outside about the details of the offer and we can put this whole mess behind us.”

Damen murmured his agreement and signalled to his party to leave. He made a point of exiting out the door he came through, not wanting to be approached and made to shake hands with Mr. DeVere. 

“I swear if you say a single word-” Damen whispered to Nikandros.

“I wasn’t going to say anything,” Nikandros muttered. 

⚿⚿⚿⚿

“Ah, my little doll.” Nicaise looked up as his owner settled into the car beside him with a sigh. Nicaise obediently scooched over until he was under his owner’s arm, snuggling close. He was tired and his head was fuzzy…

A hand on his head reached to the tip of his ear and pinched hard. He yelped in shock as slowly, the fog over his mind lifted and panic overwhelmed him.

“Where are they?” Nicaise cried out and struggled to get free from the vice-like grip he was in, “ _ Where are they? _ ” The man who owned him, that bastard, that monster, didn’t respond to Nicaise’s futile efforts, merely humming an incessant tune to himself. 

“Govart?” Mr. DeVere, the CEO of Veretian Industries asked of the brutish man in the passenger seat, “did you do as I asked?”

“I threw him in some junkyard in the bad part of town,” Govart answered, “the techs said they removed your name from his memory card and aged him up a bit. With any luck he’ll be picked up by some gang like you wanted.”

Nicaise grabbed the arm holding him and bit down on it. Hard. A moment later, he collided with the other side of the car, pain exploding from the side of his head.

“No more fighting, little doll,” Mr. DeVere sighed, “It does get so tiresome. You could be a good boy like Aimeric used to be or you could get dumped like he did because he was naughty. Your choice.” Mr. DeVere smiled slowly at Nicaise, who shrank against the carseat, cradling his bleeding head. Nicaise wanted Laurent, wanted the older doll to come hold him and sing him to sleep and tell him he needed to be strong, tell him that Laurent would find a way to make it better...

“He’ll just scream more when we get back to the main building,” the driver told Mr. DeVere who hummed thoughtfully. 

“No! No no no! Please!” Nicaise whimpered, shrinking further away though there was nowhere to run as Mr. DeVere reached for his ear again, “no, please! I’ll be good! I’ll be good!”

“Of course you’ll be good...” was the last thing Nicaise heard, echoing in his ears as everything faded into black. 

⚿⚿⚿⚿

Damen managed to break off from Nikandros and his incessant silence that he had reasserted on the drive back to their main building. Damen didn’t want to know what was going on in his friend’s head. Instead he studied the oblivious android as they rode up the elevator to Damen’s penthouse suite. 

The android didn’t seem aware of Damen’s gaze, in trance mode but Damen still felt self-conscious, as if the young man the android appeared to be might feel disrespected or annoyed at being stared at. Or perhaps he would enjoy it. Perhaps he would meet Damen’s gaze and smirk knowingly. Damen shook those thoughts out of his head. They hardly did him good in the past; they wouldn’t do him good now. 

The elevator dinged softly and Damen carefully ushered the android into his apartment.

The android looked almost as if he belonged there, clad all in unadorned white clothes amidst the creamy walls that mimicked stone and glass decor, the simple stretch of wooden floor.  

He wondered if Nikandros would get too angry at him for not using the android for its intended purpose but figured Nikandros would be more relieved than exasperated, probably thinking Damen was even more susceptible to charming P.E.T.s than Kastor was. He wasn’t wrong of course.

Still, Damen couldn’t resist leading the android upstairs into his private loft rooms and reaching up to pinch the android’s ear, just like he’d seen on those instruction manuals that often popped up in his video feed. The android blinked a few times and then turned his head to look at Damen, smiling sweetly and looking him up and down. 

“You must be my new owner,” the androi- Laurent said softly, “you’re awfully handsome.”

“Thanks,” Damen said stiffly, unsure what to make of a compliment right from the start. It was very unsubtle and unlike what he was used to. Laurent took a step closer and Damen unwittingly took a step back.

“Are you alright?” Laurent asked with teasing in his voice, “you seem tense, perhaps you might benefit from a massage. It’s one of my many talents you can… use,” the android reached a hand out towards Damen’s body and Damen’s brain short-circuited. This was too bizarre, he didn’t know how to deal with this situation. He was frozen while the android dragged a hand down his chest towards his belt.  _ That _ woke Damen’s muscles up. He gripped the android’s wrist gently to stop it, trying to ignore the contrast between his bronzed skin against that pale, pale skin.

The android smiled up at him, “oh, I see. You like it rough.” The android stepped away and swiftly divested himself of his shirt and Damen tried to keep himself focused, tried not to get pulled in by the sight of soft petal-pink nipples, the ridges of hard muscles in the abdomen, the trail of soft golden hair leading-

“If you like,” Laurent said, making Damen’s gaze snap back up to his face, “you could hit me, mark me up, give me bruises.” Laurent drew near and pushed at Damen’s chest, walking him backwards until Damen startled as his knees hit something and he fell onto his back into the sheets of his bed. Laurent was not long in following, crawling up Damen’s body to straddle him and settle his full weight - right on Damen’s crotch.

Damen barely registered thin hands pushing up his shirt to touch his skin before he suddenly sat up quickly and shoved hard at the android. He felt a twinge of regret as the pale body flopped against the floor and kind of just lay there, splayed out and unmoving, though the android was clearly still conscious, blue eyes blinking up at the ceiling without emotion, as if Damen had not just pushed it onto a hard surface. The blond head jerked up all of a sudden, and blue eyes fixed on Damen. Empty eyes, Damen thought, completely void of emotion. They were unnerving and cold, nothing like the warm S.L.A.V.E.s he had known, sweet Erasmus and happy Isander. 

“Did I do something wrong?” Laurent asked, tone as benign as if he were asking about the weather, unaware of his own mistreatment.

“Yes,” Damen said, breathing heavily like he’d just run a marathon, “and I’m making a ground rule: no sex.”

⚿⚿⚿⚿

Jord found him in a junkyard. 

It was like a fairy tale, if fairy tales could take place in ugly urban landscapes. Jord was looking for any old computer parts or light emitters that could be repurposed when he turned a corner and saw -  _ him _ .

_ He _ was an android laying broken on the ground with his limbs splayed out at odd angles as if he’d been thrown there. He was beautiful despite his horrible condition, hair a ring of auburn curls and skin milky white so the black and red bruises on his skin were prominent. His eyes were closed and his chest rose and fell so Jord knew he was in sleep mode. He was small in stature though not so small that he was meant to be under teenage years. He was meant to look like a boy not yet gone through the final stage of maturing, cheeks still slightly round and rosy. Jord crouched next to him and lifted the android’s torso up to look under his ear for a serial number. He found none and knew this was a P.E.T. which was good for Jord; he had more experience with the customizable androids than the pleasing ones that broke down uselessly if their owners did one wrong thing. Jord gently brushed some of the auburn curls from the android’s closed eyes, wondering what color they might be.

Before he could think too hard about it, Jord hoisted the android up and over his shoulders and carried him out of the junkyard, a light weight for Jord. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope I didn't hurt you too bad because there's more to come.  
> I'm gonna try to update soon, don't want to leave you guys hanging for too long.


End file.
